Bruce Pascoe is an Australian Indigenous writer, from the Bunurong clan, of the Kulin nation. His most recent work 'Dark Emu', winner of the 2016 NSW Premier's Literary Award, presents a radically different picture of Australia's original inhabitants. From the journals and records of early explorers and surveyors, Bruce has accumulated astonishing descriptions of a pre-colonial Aboriginal life and asks whether Australia's First Peoples were 'hunter-gatherers'.

Note:There is time to get by train from Parramatta to the Palm Sunday Rally for Refugees and Asylum Seekers, 2-4pm at Belmore Park (near Central Station).

Recent Seminars

October 15, 2017: Compassion over cruelty - responding to people seeking safety and protection

Ms Frances Rush, CEO of the Asylum Seekers Centre in Sydney has been associated with the Centre since its inception in 1993. Nobody could have envisaged the journey ahead.

The Asylum Seekers Centre is a place of hospitality and welcome. It is an oasis for many people, a safe place for those who have fled situations of great danger.

"You did ask me if there is anything else that we can do. I think the thing that we have to do is to keep our voices loud. Keep connected and keep up the pressure politically ... we have to push back when decisions are made and show that Australian society does care."

July 16, 2017: OUR CLIMATE FUTURE

Key Concerns & Signs of Hope

Professor Tim Flannery was a compelling speaker on the latest climate science data that underpins the current state of the global carbon budget. He also provided exciting information on the development of carbon negative technologies and their role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to halt and reduce the impacts of human-influenced global warming.

Download an edited transcript of Professor Flannery's address and the audience Q&A that followed HERE

May 21 2017: Real News or Fake News - The Future of Journalism

Dr Margaret Van Heekeren from University of Sydney's Department of Media and Communication was our speaker on the phenomena of fake news. Dr Van Heekeren shared her current research showing that fake news, also known as faked news and false news, can be traced to ancient times.

The recent rise in the proliferation of fake news has identified social media as an enabling factor. However Dr Van Heekeren takes the view that this is, rather, a continuation of historic misuse of news channels. She argues that whilst fake news is of critical concern, it is not a death knell of journalism’s future but a cyclical warning of a need to reinvigorate quality journalism.

An update on Bringing Laudato Si to Life by Fr Sean McDonagh, a Columban Priest - a marvellous writer, film-maker and lecturer on environmental issues and the consequences for the poor, the island nations and the world.

Please find links below to podcasts and powerpoints from Fr Sean as presented at the various Sydney events he addressed between Nov 10th and Nov 12th 2016.

Aug 21 2016: How inequality corrodes democracy and what we can do about it

Speaker: Professor Carmen Lawrence

After training as a research psychologist at the University of Western Australia and lecturing in several Australian universities, Dr Lawrence entered politics in 1986, serving at both State and Federal levels for 21 years, becoming the first woman Premier and Treasurer of a State government.

In 1994, she was elected as the Member for Fremantle and was appointed Minister for Health and Human Services and Minister assisting the Prime Minister on the Status of Women. She has held various portfolios in Opposition, and was elected national President of the Labor Party in 2004. She retired from politics in 2007. She is now a Professorial Fellow at the University of Western Australia working to establish a centre to research the forces driving significant social change.

Adam Farrar is a Senior Policy Officer with Shelter NSW, the State’s peak advocate for housing justice. In May 2016, Adam spoke passionately on Housing and Homelessness at our Sunday Seminar. His address uncovered and explained the multiple layers of consideration that surround the housing market and its impact on the poor

This Sunday Seminar also included time to workshop election strategies, sharing ideas for taking action on social justice issues in the lead-up to the election on July 2nd.

Following our Annual General Meeting, Inga Lie, Trainer and Counsellor from the Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia, gave a talk about this important topic. The event was also a fundraiser for RDVSA.